Day 18

Today marks day 18 since Kylee was diagnosed with GBS. Since my last post (and something I forgot to mention), Kylee has had some changes. On Monday (3 days ago) our state had crazy strong winds of up to 50 MPH. Considering we live in "farmland USA", dust from the fields was flying through the air like crazy. Considering Kylee's inability to blink normally and as often as a normal person...the wind wasn't welcomed very well. I sent her to school and about an hour later I got a call from her teacher stating that Kylee was complaining of blurry vision. This of course concerned me mainly because long-term facial paralysis patients can eventually develop permanent vision issues because of dry and damaged corneas from their inability to keep their eyes as moisturized as they need to (from not blinking and closing their eyes all the way). I also read online that blurry vision is a symptom of GBS. So her blurry vision could have come from the wind or as a result of a symptom...or both! Either way it concerned me enough to go to the school and give her extra drops and hugs. She seemed ok so I left and sent her back to class. Maybe 45 minutes later I got another call from the nurse this time. Kylee's vision was blurry again and now she had neck pain. So I decided to bring her home so she could close her eyes and rest them for a while.

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I put in a call to Dr. Haynes to inform her of this change. Dr. Haynes informed me that blurry vision can also be a good sign. A sign that her central nerve is starting the healing process and that often times it can cause a reverse affect. So this could very well just be a temporary thing as her nerves begin to heal. We are praying and hoping that this is the case. Kylee's blurry vision continued off and on for the next 3 days. This morning, however, was the first morning that she did not have any blurred vision! Her eyes have been itchy though but I have a feeling that is part of some kind of healing process as well.

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Some good news (or more good news however you look at the whole blurry vision symptom).....Kylee had the BEST day yet yesterday since her diagnosis. She went to ALL of school and lasted all day without a single painful sensation. She then slept all night without any pain whatsoever! She then woke up without any blurry vision and I sent her off to school on time! So we are approaching 48 hours of perfection! This can mean that she is getting better, or that the nerve pain medication is finally giving her body the 24 hour "protection" and effects that it needs to be. Either way, it has been a great almost 2 days now and the clouds are opening up just a little for us!

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Kylee starts physical therapy on Monday. We are very anxious to get her strength and flexibility back so we can't wait for treatments to start! Kylee is excited too because she knows that once her body gets it's strength back, she can dance and play softball again! Also, more good news....Kylee's face is starting to slowly progress again! We are praying and hoping that she won't have another relapse. It's so great to see expressions and emotions on her face again. Oh how I love her smile!!

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Well, day 17 and 18 have turned out to be the best days since her diagnosis. Things are looking up and we are really starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. We just pray that light gets closer to us and doesn't fade away. We never know with this syndrome. It can play peek-a-boo on us and scare us whenever it feels like it. But for now, we are rejoicing in her progress and continuing to take it one day at a time.